Synchronicity
THERE have been a number of key innovations in the psychology field over the past hundred years or so. I think we are on the cusp of another one.
We have gained greater understanding about the interpretation of dreams, how habits are formed and maintained, the objective role of our thoughts in influencing our feelings and behaviour and how Eastern philosophical principles might be incorporated in Western psychology.
I believe the next major step relates to the greater recognition and integration of spirituality in psychological therapy.
Interest in formal religion may be waning, but about 25 to 30 per cent of people identify themselves as being spiritual, rather than religious. Nonetheless, there is very little reference to spirituality in mainstream psychology.
This is where my favourite topic — synchronicity — comes in.
Synchronicity relates to coincidences that are so striking, so uncanny, so captivating or so meaningful that we become convinced they are more than just coincidences. Examples include thinking of someone you haven’t seen for years and then improbably encountering them soon afterwards. It might involve uncannily meeting someone with very rare skills at just the right time to help you solve a challenging problem.
Modern psychology used to dismiss the idea that any such experience could be more than random. The suggestion was that any belief in synchronicity was based on superstitious irrational thinking, underestimating the extent to which even the most striking coincidences could be explained by random chance, or happenstance.
Recent compelling hints of change include a recent British survey where almost half the therapists surveyed reported they had experienced synchronicity in their sessions with clients, and twothirds suggested that such an experience could be useful.
I’ve personally heard many clients’ stories where amazing coincidences helped them find their life partner, caused them to shift from a harmful direction they were heading in, provided them with a rare and unique opportunity, enabled them to sense the spirit of a deceased relative, or thwarted a suicide attempt, after which they turned their lives around. After such experiences many people were convinced that some things in life were “meant to be”.
It is clear that many people believe in a transpersonal or mystical dimension in life, whereby some things that happen cannot be explained rationally. We might have some kind of true knowledge or insight based more on intuition than the intellect. It seems to come from a source beyond ourselves. Such experiences might partly be ignored in academic training because mystical experience, by definition, is almost impossible to explain in words.
After 40 years as a clinical psychologist, I’m now primed to actively research these themes. Several years of exploring and writing about this topic has led to the release of the new (second) edition of my book, The Positive Psychology of Synchronicity, Enhance Your Mental Health with the Power of Coincidence, released internationally by Watkins Publishing.
I’ll be launching the book this week at Watkins Books in London, one of the oldest book stores in London, and the earliest to specialise in mystical and spiritual themes. The bookshop was established in 1897 when the career of Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist who coined the term synchronicity, was just getting started. Watkins have published the works of authors such as Eckhart Tolle and Carl Jung himself.
Although it is old, I believe this bookshop, and the publishers with which it is associated, are at the cutting edge in combining spirituality, mysticism and science.
As a psychotherapist, I’ve often witnessed how synchronicity can promote connectedness with others, and an enhanced sense of life purpose and meaning. It also supports a faith in there being a larger benevolent consciousness beyond our own. It encourages us to develop our intuitive faculties, alongside and beyond our rational and analytic abilities.
All of these things are demonstrably beneficial to mental health. They support the five pillars of happiness identified in the PERMA model of positive psychology. Synchronicity promotes our positive emotions including awe, curiosity and wonder; it promotes our engagement in life roles; it strengthens our relationships through an increased sense of connection with others; it promotes a sense of meaning and life purpose and can support our accomplishment.
Those benefits from the phenomenon are too significant to ignore, especially given that 40 per cent of Westerners already believe synchronicity is real.